January 31, 2023 -Good Newsletter

Greetings and Blessings to you all,

The winter months have a beautiful stillness. The air is cold and fresh, the snow stays on the ground much longer than in the city. If it's cold for long enough, you can walk on the lake and get a whole new perspective. If you have never been to Koinonia in the winter this is a great year to do so.

The Board, Staff, Teams, Committees at Koinonia are busy during this quiet time putting together reports to reflect on 2022 and use these insights in order to plan for 2023 and our Annual Meeting.

Read on for our January news and updates!
Pastor Meditation
This month's meditation is from Rev. Dr. Robert Harwell, pastor of Village Lutheran Church and the Chapel School in Bronxville, NY.

Village Lutheran youth and parents came up for a fun Confirmation Weekend on January 6-8th. Enjoy this meditation from the Sermon.

BOARD NEWS
Board President Report

Happy New Year! We are working on many exciting priorities at the start of 2023 including putting together the 2022 Annual Report, finalizing the 2023 budget with the finance committee, and selecting a slate of board members - all in preparation for the Annual Meeting on Sunday, February 26. We have already set aside a weekend in late September for our next strategic planning session with Keith Johnson.

Koinonia made much progress in 2022, thanks to your talents and treasures, and we have much to be grateful for as we dive into the year ahead. We welcome all of you to attend the Annual Meeting virtually to hear final reports on all three of our goals and to hear more about our plans for 2023.

Goal Committee Work
Goal 1 – Operating Revenue (Champion – Mark Wilson): We ended 2022 in a strong financial position and look forward to building on this in 2023. Bookings for our retreat buildings continue to progress and we are continuing our Common Ground Appeal.
 
Goal 2 – Connections to member congregations (Champion – Kristi Jasberg-Robinson): The group continues to cultivate relationships with our member congregations following the initial outreach. The committee met most recently on November 28 to discuss the status of the outreach work and next steps. The social media subcommittee meets every month to plan Instagram and Facebook posts and is beginning using annual analytics to adapt its strategy for 2023. 
 
Goal 3 - Capital Campaign (Champion – Anthony Geraci): We continue to work toward raising another $500k to reach our challenge goal of $1.5M.  The Major Gifts Team and Alumni Board Team continue to work on reaching everyone on their lists and we are beginning outreach to congregations through the generous engagement of the Congregational Team.
 
Important Upcoming Dates
- The annual meeting will be held on February 26 at 3pm. All are welcome to attend via Zoom. The meeting will be held at St. JME Lutheran Church at 283 Prospect Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215. Click here to register as a delegate or a viewer.
CAMP NEWS
Fundraising/ Finance Update

At end of 2022, we raised over $172,290 (not including Capital Campaign funds)! Thank you!

Our Capital Campaign Gifts and pledges at the end of 2022 were $1,080,049.40, total gifts (2020-present) were $598,568.33, and donations received in 2022 were $243,538.74. There is over $120,000 in our Capital Campaign checking account.
Property Updates

Warmer weather at the end of December and into January meant much less plowing. The main road will need some work on potholes.

 The roofer who has done recent buildings (Caritas, Lakeside, & 2 Family) inspected some issues to the Conference Center roof and also created bids to replace the Asdal and Staff House roofs.

The lake is back to typical level, and the ice is thin. The property team discussed the order of big projects to fund in 2023 and listed the Manlove Memorial floating bridge, road and stair work in the campground/beach, and fixing the conference center roof as the top 3. 

We have put a full-time maintenance hire in the budget for 2023, starting in March.
Outreach/Marketing
Facebook post reach was down - 27% between August 9-January 9 (typical for holiday season), we added 5 more followers in the past month, and post engagements hover between 350 and 1,500. The last newsletter again had a 51% open rate. The Outreach/Marketing team met this month and took time to reflect on their work for 2022. The 60th Anniversary announcement was emailed December 16th and a 46% open rate. We have put some money on the budget to hire a social media consultant in 2023 to help with posts and reach.

Kathleen is reaching out to congregations to visit in February and March. If you would like her to visit, please email her. kkruen@koinoniany.org
Worship and Programming

The confirmation retreat was smaller than expected, but it did happen and was transformative for all who attended. 

Upcoming programming are Winterfest weekend, followed by the crafting weekend, and then a Women’s retreat and Quilting/Craft week. To see all of our programming for 2023, click here.


The big news is that our pilot aftercare program began on January 17th. We can take care of up to 6 children a week. Our Childcare Director, Rebecca Morabito, did a great job getting the top of the Office/Staff House cleaned and decorated for the kids. 

We will begin planning and hiring for the summer Nature Camp and will open registration on March 1.
Waterfront 60
The Waterfront 60 volunteers, with guidance from Matt Baumhardt, continue to move forward. They have met with several excavators and put together a budget that will help in prioritizing each task. They have been looking at options for fencing and piers. It's going to be great!
60th Anniversary Programming
Thank You
Our Mission is reaching more people, and our vision to become "a flourishing outdoor community that cultivates transformation and ripples peace and reconciliation to the world" is leading us to the future. Thank you for reading this newsletter, for your prayers, your volunteering, your booking of buildings and rooms, and for your financial support. Together, we can build a ministry that will last for the next 60 years and beyond.

God Bless,

Katie Cunningham    
Board President 
board@koinoniany.org                                            

Kathleen Ruen
Executive Director
kkruen@koinoniany.org